The new year has arrived accompanied by some complicated weather conditions, which are putting hundreds of thousands of citizens in trouble after the end of the holidays.
The east of the country is preparing for a heavy snowfall, which
could leave an unknown number of homes without electricity
, warned the National Weather Service.
The federal agency issued a snowstorm alert for Washington, DC, Virginia and Maryland, where up to 10 inches could fall and winds of up to 35 miles per hour could be registered, seriously hampering the conditions to travel.
In the District of Columbia in particular, 3-6 inches of snow is expected on Monday morning alone.
"It is possible that a lot of snow will fall, especially from the south of the district, between 5 in the morning and noon, with temperatures below zero," warned The Washington Post.
[On video: Dramatic escape of a driver who was caught in the middle of a fire in Colorado]
"Commuting can be very difficult, with limited visibility and snow-covered roads. High winds are also expected," he added.
This could
further worsen the situation at several airports in
the eastern United States, which on the second day of 2022 were already affected by bad weather and COVID-19 infections from airline members.
In total, more than 2,500 trips were canceled or delayed on Sunday.
The United States Office of Personnel Management announced that its federal facilities in the capital will be closed on Monday.
Drivers in Detroit, Oregon, slow down due to poor visibility caused by heavy snowfall on December 26, 2021.Andrew Selsky / AP
"Don't be surprised if you wake up with little snow on the ground, conditions will change rapidly after sunrise," experts were quoted as saying by The Washington Post.
"The snow could fall at a rate of at least one or two inches per hour during a time with visibility less than half or even a quarter of a mile," they stressed.
The south, meanwhile, has been affected by a
wave of tornadoes, storms and wind
.
The devastation left by the wildfire in Colorado is worse than previously thought
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Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear was forced to declare a state of emergency Saturday to deal with the consequences of such severe weather.
With its mind still set on the tornadoes that killed more than 70 people in December, the state suffered flash floods, power outages and damage to public infrastructure and private property, Beshear's office said in a statement.
"It is devastating that we are experiencing severe weather again just weeks after deadly tornadoes hit western Kentucky," the governor said.
[“No, this is not a joke”: fish rained down in Texas shortly before the end of the year]
Parts of Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama were under a tornado watch, while a flood warning was triggered in West Virginia, according to USA Today.
On Sunday night, in addition, it began to snow in parts of Alabama, Kentucky and Tennessee.
Colorado, which a few days ago was fighting raging wildfires, and 7 other Midwestern states were on alert for heavy snowfall, which
could drop up to 12 inches on the plains and southern Great Lakes
.
In total, some 46 million residents of cities such as Denver, Chicago, Salt Lake City, Detroit and Milwaukee could be affected by the consequences of this accumulation of snow.
On video: These animals enjoy the snow amid the chaos of the winter season
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The west of the country is not immune to bad weather either.
California registered heavy rains and snowfalls in the last days of 2021 and the first of 2022, which generated floods, mudslides and made it difficult to travel in mountainous areas.
However, this helped reduce the extreme drought in the state, which this year caused devastating fires.
The National Weather Service has already announced that
a new winter storm will affect the northwest of the country this time
, which will bring heavy snowfalls in the mountains and winds at least until the middle of the week.